Good News for California Cannabis Brand Owners (Finally)

One of the biggest hurdles for California cannabis brand owners has been the inability to secure California state trademark registrations for their marks. This has been a point of confusion for many clients who have successfully registered their trademarks in states like Washington, Oregon and Colorado, and hoped to do the same in California.

Until recently, the California state government has been steadfast in refusing to register marks used on cannabis, despite cannabis having been legal in California since 1996. This policy was rooted in Sections 14270-14272 of the Model State Trademark Law of the California Business and Professions Code (CBPC), which are simply titled “Miscellaneous.” Section 14272 states the following:

The intent of this chapter is to provide a system of state trademark registration and protection substantially consistent with the federal system of trademark registration and protection under the Trademark Act of 1946 (15 U.S.C. Sec. 1051 et seq.), as amended. To that end, the construction given the federal act should be examined as non-binding authority for interpreting and construing this chapter.

Recall that there are three ways in which a brand owner can establish trademark rights:

By using the mark in connection with their goods or services (legally) in commerce;

By registering the mark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO); and

By registering the mark with an appropriate state trademark registry.

California cannabis companies have, to date, needed to rely on federal trademarks registered with the USPTO (if they could get them for ancillary goods or services), and common law rights that may not even exist in California, given Section 14272 of the CBPC.

But Assembly Bill 64 will change all this. Recognizing the inconsistency between current state trademark law provisions and the new cannabis regulations, AB 64 states the following:

This bill, for purposes of marks for which a certificate of registration is issued on or after January 1, 2018, would, notwithstanding those provisions, authorize the use of specified classifications for marks related to medical cannabis and nonmedical cannabis goods and services that are lawfully in commerce under state law in the State of California.

This is great news for California cannabis companies, but there are a few things to keep in mind:

State trademarks will not be available until January 1, 2018, and then only for cannabis companies that operate in compliance with California state law. Unlicensed cannabis businesses will not be eligible for California state trademark protection;

Federal trademarks are still unavailable for goods and services that violate federal law, so developing a brand protection strategy that involves federal trademark registrations for ancillary goods, and state trademarks for cannabis goods, will still be key. See Cannabis Trademarks: Back to the Basics

Though the protection afforded by a state trademark is geographically limited to the state of registration, state trademarks do provide some level of protection greater than common law rights. And AB 64 will give California cannabis business owners much greater flexibility in developing a brand protection strategy that encompasses their cannabis products.